If it seems like your skin is dryer, you get zapped with static shocks more often, and you wake up frequently with a stuffy nose, you're not just imagining things—you're experiencing the effects of low humidity.

Even if you live in an area that has hot and humid summers, the drop in temperature that accompanies winter sucks the moisture right out of the air. Decreased moisture has a host of negative side effects ranging from increasing your chances of getting a cold or sinus infection—dry respiratory tissue is more susceptible to irritation and infection—to the paint and wood work in your home cracking from lack of moisture.

Over at the home-centered blog Re-Nest they've put together a guide to identifying whether your home is too dry, just right, or overly humid and what you can do to remedy a deficiency or excess of moisture. For those of you in a winter climate right now you can add moisture back into your homes in methods ranging from free and sort-of-effective to pricier and quite effective. The cheapest method they highlight is simple evaporation:

Adding moisture to the air is as simple as placing a vessel of water on top of, or next to, a radiator (or other air heating system). Leaving wet towels and clothes out to dry are other ways to introduce moisture into the air. This is a very low-tech and low power method, however the strength and humidity controls are limited, and available moisture is dependent on the size of the vessel used, and must be frequently refilled.

If you've ever looked at a vase of flowers in January and sworn you just filled it up with water and it needs a refill again, you're seeing just how thirsty the dry winter air in your home really is. More effective are stand alone and whole house humidifiers that mechanically inject moisturized air into individual rooms and the entire heating system of a home, respectively.

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If you're debating whether or not it's worth investing effort into increasing the humidity of your home, I recently repaired the whole-house humidifier attached to my furnace and fired it up. Using it raised the humidity levels in my home from around 28-30%—as measured by the hydrometers I placed throughout the house—to a nice comfortable 42-45%. The difference is noticeable in everything from how the air feels when you breathe it in to how you don't get shocked petting the cats or getting dressed anymore.

For more information humidifying your home, check out the full article at Re-Nest. If you have a tip for inexpensively humidifying your living space, let's hear about it in the comments.